, 1887-09-27
MARRIED woMeN,s MECHANICS.
The Odd Ways in which the Idlers at
Saratoga Addreaa Their Wives.

The Odd Ways in which the Idlers at
Saratoga Address Their Wives.
When a lounger on the veranda of one
OF the big hotels at this place hears a man
say Hurry up, little one" or Come
along, birdie, " he may be sure that it is a
husband addressing his wife and that she
is enormously fat. Apparently all hus-
bands of fat women address their wives
with ~diminutives, if not with nicknames
fit only for small women or little girls.
DAISY" 'Birdien and Baby" appear to
be the pet names most favored by the hus-
bands of women. In this haven
Of conjugal rest, for Saratoga is distinc-
lively for married couples and has less
conveniences and attractions for lovers
than any place in America, one gets. a
deep knowledge of the ways of welded
folk. This matter of nicknames for wives
is one of the most interesting studies. To
pursue this branch Of learning 1t is only
necessary to sit for an hour or two, on any
afternoon, while the music is playing in
the inner garden either of the United
States hotel or OF the Grand Union. All
the rest the married couples will do for
the student. They will talk unguardedly
In his hearing, and he will soon be able
TO classify the couples and the pet names,
for certain names go with certain sorts of
couples as infallibly as pie goes with sup
per in New England.
The very swell and exquisite young
married men, who dress vainly and seek
to give the impression hat t,ey belong to
the F.. c. D.. c., dance at Delmonico's and
know all the fellows who have yachts,
call their wives with monosyllables, such
as Puss, Chris, Hen, Fan, Loo, Tot.
There seems to be only one marked ex-
ception In the list. You often hear one
of these wives called "Popsy." There
are two Popsies at the States and there is
one at the Union. Oddly enough, the
fathers of these same fellows, men so fell
kept that you can't say whether they are
45 or 05, are fond of drawing put the full
names of their helpmeets, as, for instance,
Como heah, Frances" or Now, my
deah Eleanor, you must have a wrap"
Equally fixed is tho rule that thin and
sickly women, dyspeptics, neuralgics, and
tho like, are addressed by their liege lords
ms wife, madame, or Misses Thompson,
Misses Brown, or whatever. The invalid
husbands, and all the prlm and precise
ones as well, address their better halves
as my dear" This, by the way, is the
established custom with the Hebrews,
though they usually are heard to pro-
nounce the words ''mine teer.n The
olergymen seem TO have united upon the
word mother as a title for their wives,
and the men who arc so common here,
and who seem to be wrapped up in IN
only girl or boy, call their wives ma"
Other nicknames resist classification
thus far, though perhaps the key to all can
be found by diligent application. There
Is nc end to the Dollies and the my
loves" while one hears a miscellaneous
lot of passersby addressing their comrades
As pet" One plump little wife is grad
ually becoming known to everybody in
one of the hotels ms Sugar" the nick
name her husband calls out ~assiduously
and loudly all day in the parlors and on
the promenades. Tho temptation for
others to call her Sugar is growing pain
full. She is not the only feminine confec-
ton, for, Mt the States, there is n dimpled
brunette who answers to her husband us
"Sweety," and yesterday a very prim-
looking wife, somewhat the shape of a
board, was addressed as Sweetness be-
fore all the crowd at the spring in Con
gress park. 1t may be an oversight, but
there does not seem to be a darling in
town. A muddy faced, %corpulent man of
40, who looks as il he had been born and
brought up in the Stock Exchange, always
addresses his wife rs Precious, " and in
the same hotel q husband, who appears to
hail from The west, replies to his wife with
Eyes, Pigeon "All right, Pigeon and
so on. As it happens, there is something
about the wife's appearance or manner, or
perhaps 1t is her shape, that renders this
Oldest of nicknames peculiarly %appropri-
ate. The young fellows who are spending
their time in pulling the down on their
upper lips are fond of pointing out Sugar
to all their acquaintance, and In another
week they will doubtless add pigeon"
to their stock of fun. -Saratoga Cor.
New York Sun.